The present invention is a wheelchair for use by elderly persons or individuals with spinal cord injuries who shower and/or have a bowel movement while in the wheelchair. This type of wheelchair is designed to roll over a toilet or to be rolled into a shower room.
A problem encountered with prior art wheelchairs is that it is difficult for a patient to wash his legs and feet, normally requiring the user to bend far forward and reach down to do so. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide means for supporting a user""s leg in a raised position so that cleaning of the legs and feet can be accomplished in a much easier manner than when using prior art wheelchairs.
The seats of prior art wheelchairs are unsatisfactory for a number of reasons. The seats do not provide adequate under seat access to enable a user to place his hands in proper position for various toilet procedures. Such seats are cushioned with foam that often crushes under a patient""s weight, and the foam is covered with stitched vinyl materials. This combination results in skin pressure, bruising and pinching which can lead to pressure ulcers, cuts or other injuries to the thigh, buttocks, etc. In addition, prior art seats do not provide adequate top surface area for properly supporting the thighs of a user or for transferring a user onto or off of the seat in a lateral direction.
Prior art wheelchairs have employed many different types of armrests, some of which are disposed in fixed position and others of which are movable or even removable from the chair. Such armrests have certain disadvantages which are overcome with the invention construction. Firstly, it is desirable that the armrests are permanently mounted on the chair rather than being removable therefrom. Fixed armrests often interfere with lateral transfer of a user onto or off of the seat of the chair. Therefore, it is desirable that the armrests be movable into a position where they do not interfere with such movement of a user. When movable armrests are employed, it is further necessary that a mechanism be provided to securely lock the armrest in lowered operative position since users need to hook their arms under the armrest and pull upward against the armrest when positioning themselves in the chair.
Conventional footrests on wheelchairs have presented a number of problems. Footrests are typically flat and may include a heel-strap to hold the user""s feet in position. Such heel-straps are held in place by bolts which can cut the feet of the user. Footrests may also utilize height adjustment arrangements which have bolts to hold the footrest in adjusted position. These bolts usually require the use of a tool such as a wrench to loosen and tighten the bolts when adjusting the height of the footrest. Therefore, height adjustment is rather difficult to accomplish, and is very inconvenient for a user.
Prior art footrests do not adequately protect a users toes and have sharp edges, which can damage the skin of a user""s foot. The footrests are furthermore slippery when wet. It is also desirable to provide a footrest construction wherein each footrest is adapted to be pivoted out of the way when not in use.
The wheelchair includes drive wheels to which pushrims, or push rings are drivingly connected in the usual manner. Conventional pushrims have relatively small diameters that are difficult for many users to grip in a satisfactory manner. Furthermore, the pushrims are slippery when wet.
The invention provides a heel support assembly which is adapted to support a leg of a patient in an elevated position so that it is much easier for a user to reach and clean a leg and foot. The assembly is pivotally mounted at the front portion of the frame of the chair and includes a support portion for supporting the heel of the patient. The assembly is normally stored in a depending stored position at the front of the chair. When it is desired to wash the legs and feet, the assembly is manually grasped and pivoted upwardly into a generally horizontal position whereupon a portion of the assembly is rotated in one direction so that the support portion is horizontally disposed for receiving a heel of one leg. The assembly is slightly lowered into a position so that the assembly is retained in the desired position. When the washing procedure is finished, the assembly may be slightly lifted, whereupon it can be rotated in the opposite direction and pivoted downwardly into its stored position where it does not interfere with any other components of the chair. In another featured embodiment, contoured footrests with an ankle support are employed.
The seat of the invention wheelchair has a central opening and a cutout formed in the front portion of the seat, the cutout being in communication with the central hole to provide under seat hand access from the front of the seat. In addition, each of the side portions of the seat have cutouts formed therein to provide under seat hand access from both sides of the seat. The invention seat employs open cell foam which is covered with seamless vinyl stretched over the foam to provide good comfort and to prevent skin xe2x80x9cpinchingxe2x80x9d. The seat is elongated from front to back to provide proper support for the thighs of a use. Additionally, the seat is provided with laterally extending wings adjacent the front portion of the seat to provide additional upper surface area which facilitates lateral transfer of a patient onto or off of the seat. An alternative embodiment employs a seat cushion formed of a polyurethane foam having two densities, in which the outer region is formed of a foam having first density and the inner region is formed of a relatively softer foam material.
The armrests of the invention are permanently mounted on the frame of the chair for pivotal movement with respect to the frame. The armrests can swing from a lowered operative position to a raised position. The armrests swing through an angle of greater than 90 degrees so that in the raised position, they extend rearwardly of the chair thereby providing an unobstructed space for access or transfer of a user to the seat in a direction laterally of the chair. A stop member is provided on each armrest for engaging the frame and limiting such rearward pivotal movement of the armrests. A locking means is provided which provides a positive lock preventing each armrest from releasing and swinging in an upward direction, whereby users can hook their arms under the armrests and apply considerable force in an upward direction without fear of accidental release of the armrests from locked position. In addition, a release lever is provided for releasing the locking means when desired. The lever is positioned close to the armrest so that it is readily accessible, and furthermore, it can be easily operated simply by pushing on the outer end of the lever.
The footrests of the invention are mounted on adjustment mechanisms which are slidably adjustable along footrest arms supported by the frame. These arms are normally retained in a particular position when in use, but may be rotated with respect to the frame when not in use. Each footrest includes a support portion which is pivoted to the associated adjustment mechanism. The position of the adjustment mechanism is controlled by a manually operable handle which can be effectively operated by a user without undue effort. The footrests are contoured to receive the foot of a user and extend beyond the toes of the user to provide protection for the toes. The footrests are contoured to receive the foot of a user and have rounded edges to prevent a user""s feet from being cut. The footrests also have raised portions to provide a non-slip surface and have a drain holes formed therethrough so that water can drain from the footrests.
The pushrims 48 of the invention are unique in that they are oversized to provide larger diameters within a particular range which permits users to more effectively grip the pushrims. Additionally, the space between each of the pushrims and the adjacent drive wheel are within a particular range to provide satisfactory results. The pushrims are also rubber coated to prevent slipperiness in wet environments.
The frame of the wheelchair may, in another featured embodiment, have a foldable frame and a pivotable seat to allow the wheelchair to be stored in a small volume when not in use. A bag with casters is provided for carrying the folded wheelchair for easy transport.